The Tomb is Empty!

Introduction

HE IS RISEN!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths.,ar So he went away, amazed at what had happened.

If we were gathered together you would shout out, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

I know that you are at home… but you can still say it with me.

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths.,ar So he went away, amazed at what had happened.

I have to be honest, I was really hoping that we would be able to meet together today

9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths.,ar So he went away, amazed at what had happened.

I know my family sure miss gathering in worship with all of you

I am still excited for what God is doing through this pandemic

I am anxious to see how he glorifies himself and furthers his kingdom through this

Today - The Tomb is Empty

Why try and make this more difficult… This is why we celebrate today

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went away, amazed at what had happened.

retell the story in my own words

PRAY!

He Is Alive

They went to the tomb expecting death

natural expectation if you are just reading through

they are grieving the loss of somebody they loved, somebody they had followed

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?”

Surprised by

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?”

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men.

surprised by what they saw

they expected a big stone to be in the way

talk about what that would have looked like.

Roman nail and soldiers being stationed there

their surprise was that the stone was already moved

Surprised he was not there

again, who would think of going to a tomb to look for the living

Surprised by the news of the Angels

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men.

Not surprised by what the angels said

we do not see that, but it says that they remembered his word… they believed.

 And they remembered his words.

Lexham Theological Wordbook μιμνῄσκομαι

Refers to the action of bringing to mind past events, people, or words and applying that knowledge to the present.

to Remember - μιμνῄσκομαι (mimnēskomai). vb. to remember. Refers to the action of bringing to mind past events, people, or words and applying that knowledge to the present.

μιμνῄσκομαι (mimnēskomai). vb. to remember. Refers to the action of bringing to mind past events, people, or words and applying that knowledge to the present.

this wasn’t as simply rememberance, but remembering and believing

Heather and I have had an argument once or twice in the past

Like a fool, I have brought them up before, and I will ask, trying to prove a point, do you remember us arguing about this, yes, but that does not mean that I believe you… you were wrong then.

They believed! They were standing at the empty tomb!

There is an emotion that you cannot deny when you are looking and standing in the empty tomb.

I can only imagine what it would have been like with angels speaking and roman soldiers laying all over the ground like dead men.

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

But as you sit and think about the empty tomb, do you believe that he is alive?

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

not just that he came back to life, he rose from the grave ascended into heaven and is alive today sitting at the right hand of the father interceding for you

do you simply remember the story, or do you believe

He Had to Die

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women.

Couldn’t this have happened another way…

That was basically his prayer in the garden when he was arrested…

if this cup may pass me...

saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?”

saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?”

necessary…

how many have told their kids, “We’ll see...” only to have the kid go off saying, “That means no!”

this word necessary, means that it is necessary = required to be done

According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

According to the Law… that is what we are guilty of, violating the law of God

as we looked at the good Friday service, “We all like sheep have gone astray,”

We have all gone our own way instead of God’s way.

according to the same law that we have broken, the requirement for that is death

Jesus was the only perfect sacrifice, sin will not be forgiven through animal sacrifice

because our hearts would not have changed…

with the death of Jesus and the gift of the Holy spirit, we become new creations

a perfect sacrifice had to be offered

we are not perfect, and it can be hard to think of a perfect individual

even the ones we would put up, to their own admission, are not even close to perfection

Praise God that he did die for us, that now we can have forgiveness of sin, that we can enter eternity with him

We Should Live in Amazement

I have to admit that I have been down a little…

after church online last week, i sent a message to somebody and said, I cannot take it anymore, we have to meet next week for Easter.

But God has a way of bringing to a place of remembering…

we can get very busy around holidays and forget what they are really about

we get so busy with egg hunts, easter dinner and everything else that it is easy to lose track of the true reason we celebrate

retell how they went and the disciples didn’t believe… Peter took off running

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went away, amazed at what had happened.

just think… the God of the universe, the God who spoke the world into existence not only wanted to spend eternity with you, he made a way for you

how many times have we been disappointed by people that tell us that they are doing all that they can do for us

oh, I wish I could help, but I really there is no more that I can do

God came himself and went through all of that punishment for you…

we forget that sometimes…

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

we know… yeah yeah, he loves the world.

but look who he died for… everyone who believes

that is where it goes from all of his creation to you, it gets specific

But not only did he die, but the grave could not hold him!

There is nothing they could have done to him to keep him in that grave

can you just be amazed by that forgetting all else today… be amazed at the empty tomb

Why? because if it is empty, that means he was telling the truth when he said he would rise again

if that was right, then so is the statement that he was preparing a place for you, so that where he is going, where he is right now, we can be also!